Russian Court Finds Village School Principal Guilty of Using Pirated Microsoft Software [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

Russian Court Finds Village School Principal Guilty of Using Pirated Microsoft Software
05-07-2007 9:35 AM
By ALEX NICHOLSON, AP Business Writer

MOSCOW (Associated Press) -- A court Monday found the principal of a village school guilty of using bootleg Microsoft software and ordered him to pay a fine of about $195 in a case that was cast by Russian media as a battle between a humble educator and an international corporation.

The trial of Alexander Ponosov, who was charged with violating intellectual property rights by using classroom computers with pirated versions of the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office software installed, has attracted wide attention.

Russian officials frequently allege that foreign governments, including the U.S., are meddling in Russia's internal affairs, and Russian media reports have portrayed the case as that of a Western corporation bringing its power to bear on one man _ in this case, a principal who also teaches history and earns $360 a month.

Microsoft, however, has said repeatedly it has nothing to do with the charges, which were brought by Russian prosecutors in the Ural Mountains region where Ponosov's school is located.

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